Chiddy Bang to co-headline Brock the Port

Brock the Port, an annual bash for Brockport students to celebrate the end of the school year, has a $150,000 price tag for the 2011 event, with $30,000 of it going to two headlining acts, Less Than Jake and Chiddy Bang.

Brockport Student Government (BSG) President Eric May said the event will be "spectacular" compared to previous years. It will feature dozens of vendors and attractions, seven live bands, and Glow Fest II to end the night. Brock the Port takes place in Lot V on Friday, May 6 with performances beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Less Than Jake and Chiddy Bang have been popular among college students and both have a number of hit songs. Less Than Jake is a ska band that peaked in the early- to mid-2000s, while Chiddy Bang rose to mainstream popularity within the past year.

May said the opening bands include local acts Bridge the Borders, Civilian, The Ohm, The Brothers Shamus and Bedroc. They are scheduled to perform until 9 p.m., when Glow Fest II begins. DJ Bearbot will be at the turntables for the rave until midnight.

Much like the first Glow Fest, BSG will have body paint and glow sticks available for students. Although the music will play into the nighttime, it will not bother village residents, May said.

Brock the Port 2011 will include $30,000 worth of amusement park rides, including a Ferris wheel, bumper cars, a "gravitron" and a "wind glider," May said. Most of these rides were at last year's celebration. There will also be a booth called Flick Books, which takes 60 pictures in one minute to make a flip book of a group of friends, as well as caricaturists, a balloon artist and a henna artist.

In addition to other attractions like the water balloon battle, Wild Wave water slide and a mechanical bull, the event will have a number of vendors giving out free food. This includes pizza, hot dogs, pulled pork, fried dough, Dippin' Dots and cotton candy, among others. The total cost of food vendors and booths adds up to more than $48,000.

"This will be a very interactive Brock the Port and we're really looking forward to it," May said. "Unfortunately, we don't have the ability to use the ice rink this year in case of rain, but we have a rain location in Tuttle South. We won't be able to get everything in the gym, but we can put many things indoors if we need to."

Unlike recent years of Brock the Port celebrations, BSG will be hiring a bus service to pick up students in off-campus locations to bring them to Brock the Port. A few busses will be starting on Main Street and will drive toward campus picking up students on the way, May said.

May also said BSG has free Brock the Port shirts for all students and will be handing them out at multiple locations Wednesday afternoon, May 4.

"We will be in V lot, and [will be] facing all the speakers west to prevent noise pollution in the village," May said in regard to noise generated by the concert. "University Police will be there in full force in case they are needed for anything and Chief Kehoe told me he is confident that we won't need any outside assistance from village police."